ROCKINGHAM — A perfect conference schedule came to a close for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team on Friday.
Honoring their three senior players on Senior Night, the Lady Raiders defeated rival Scotland High School 72-43 to finish 12-0 in the Sandhills Athletic Conference.
Extending their winning streak to 11 straight games, the Lady Raiders added one final win to their best regular season since 2010-11.
The win followed the team’s regular-season conference title clinching victory over Lee County on Wednesday.
The Lady Raiders recognized their three seniors — Jai’Maya Ratliff, Mariah Waddell and Miccah Wall — during a ceremony between the two varsity games.
Richmond used a strong first half to distance themselves from Scotland (13-7, 7-5 SAC). Freshman point guard Jamyia Lindsey led the scoring with 28 points, followed by 22 points from Ratliff.
Sophomore forward Ryelan Lyerly added double digits with 12 points, Wall had 4 points, and freshman Rena Drake, junior C’Nedra Hinson and junior Nyla Stroman all had 2 points.
Freshman Jamyia Lindsey (23) steals the ball from Madysan Hammonds for two transition points in the first quarter. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Using a 14-0 run during the first four minutes of the game, Drake started the scoring with her two points. Lindsey added three drives and a jumper, while Ratliff knocked down two close range shots.
Scotland got on the board at the 3:56 mark thanks to a bucket from Madysan Hammonds, who had a team-high 19 points (five three-pointers). A 12-3 stretch by Richmond put the Lady Raiders up 26-5.
Three more field goals from Lindsey capped her 14 points in the first quarter, Ratliff had a putback and a jumper and Hinson added a drive in the paint for two points.
Leading 26-10 entering the second, Richmond added 21 more points in the frame. Ratliff brought her halftime total to 16 points with a jumper and six free throws. A triple from Lindsey at the top of the arc gave her 17 points at the break.
Senior Jai’Maya Ratliff (24) hits a first-half jumper over Kadence Sheppard (23) and Natalia Rodrigues (44).
Lyerly joined the scoring by hitting back-to-back triples from opposite corners with more than four minutes to play. She also had a mid-range jump shot for two more points, and a putback by Wall extended Richmond’s lead to 47-25 at halftime.
The third stanza saw Scotland outscore Richmond 8-7. Hammonds hit a three-pointer, Ny’Asia McQueen scored four of her eight points and Kadence Sheppard added a free throw.
For Richmond, Lyerly rattled home her team-leading third three-pointer of the game and connected on a free throw for her final points. Lindsey netted a floater and put in the and-one opportunity.
Sophomore Ryelan Lyerly scored 12 points in Richmond’s win over Scotland on Friday. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
An 18-10 run by the Lady Raiders in the fourth quarter closed the door on the win. Lindsey scored her final eight points on a triple, a floater and three free throws.
Ratliff notched her final six points on two jumpers and a shot on an inbound pass, while Wall hit two free throws and Stroman netted her two points on a layup.
Sheppard and Alicia McClain both finished with 7 points for Scotland, and Natalia Rodrigues added the other 2 points in the loss.
No. 1 Richmond (18-4, 12-0 SAC) will get a first-round bye in the SAC tournament and play a home game Wednesday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the No. 4 and No. 5 game.
